nats of thunder THUNDER AND LIGHTNING OVER LAKE HARTWELL TODAY. THE SPRING STORMS CAUSED A MESS FOR SOME... AND DELAYED WORK FOR OTHERS... BUT SOME SAY...IT'S A WELCOME RELIEF. GOOD EVENING... I'M CAROL GOLDSMITH. AND I'M MICHAEL COGDILL. IF YOU'VE LOOKED OUTSIDE LATELY ... YOU KNOW THE WEATHER ... IS A STORY TONIGHT. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST JOHN CESSARICH IS KEEPING AN EYE ON THIS RAIN ... AND WHAT'S TO COME. JOHN - A VERY BUSY DAY ON LIVE SUPER DOPPLER 4 H-D. SCATTERED SHOWERS, POSSIBLE THUNDER TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION.MAINLY THIS EVENING. BECOMING PARTLY SUNNY, BREEZY AND MILDER IN THE UPSTATE ON TUESDAY.BUT CHILLY IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREAS. PLENTY OF SUNSHINE AND SEASONABLY MILD FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. PARTLY SUNNY AND QUITE MILD FOR FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. MILD WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS ANDS THUNDERSTORMS FOR MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK. SCATTERED SHOWERS, POSSIBLE THUNDER TONIGHT ACROSS THE TODAY'S RAINY WEATHER KEPT SOME CONSTRUCTION CREWS OFF THE JOB...AND CREATED MORE WORK FOR HOMEOWNERS. BUT FOR OTHERS ... IT'S A WELCOME RELIEF. WYFF NEWS FOUR'S MYRA RUIZ IS LIVE AND LOCAL IN GREENVILLE COUNTY. WE'RE HEARING ABOUT SOME RAINY WEATHER CAUSING SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS IN PARTS OF GREENVILLE COUNTY. HERE AT LOWES....THE STORE MANAGER TELLS US THAT MANY PEOPLE COME IN AFTER DAYS LIKE THIS BECAUSE THE RAIN HAS MADE A MESS OF THEIR HOMES. NOT MUCH OF A DAY TO SPEND AT LAKE HARTWELL... WITH THE CONSTANT DRIZZLE AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING... ELSEWHERE IN ANDERSON COUNTY...THE HEAVY RAIN WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO CREATE A RIVER AND SEND IT RUNNING THROUGH THIS BACKYARD...NOT FAR FROM HIGHWAY 81. ONE LOWE'S HOME IMPROVEMENT MANAGER SAYS...HE'S EXPECTING FLOOD OF CUSTOMERS...WHO HAVE WEATHER-RELATED REPAIRS TO MAKE. "So if you can take a look at what you have and try to figure out what's going to happen, then you can prevent it. Then you won't have to come in on the rainy day to take care of it." WHILE THIS TYPE OF WEATHER MAY BE CAUSING A MESS FOR HOMEOWNERS ACROSS THE UPSTATE... OTHERS ARE SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE...AFTER BATTLING BRUSH FIRES...FOLLOWING A LONG, DRY WINTER. "....and it makes them more brittle and easier to ignite and burn more readily flammable. An example is what happened in Greer last week." "A day like today when it's pouring down with rain, it'll help suppress that by putting moisture back into the ground." AT LEAST UNTIL THE SUN RETURNS AND THE WIND STARTS BLOWING...ACCORDING TO FIRE CHIEF DON ALLECKSON. BUT OTHERS ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THOSE DRYER DAYS. "When it's not raining, there's a lot of moving parts going on around here for sure." WORK ON NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY'S ATHLETIC FACILITY EXPANSION CAME TO A HALT...AND THE FOOTBALL TEAM COULD NOT PRACTICE OUTSIDE. "We're trying to work our way around the rain as best we can and our players our great. They're kind of going with the flow." MYRA RUIZ, WYFF, NEWS FOUR, LIVE IN GREENVILLE COUNTY. INVESTIGATORS SAY A MAN SET FIRE TO A HOME IN COWPENS ... WHILE HE AND SOME LAW OFFICERS WERE STILL INSIDE. COWPENS POLICE AND SPARTANBURG COUNTY DEPUTIES WENT TO THE HOME ON OLD PACOLET ROAD AROUND 3:30 THIS MORNING. THEY WERE TRYING TO ARREST LARRY MORRIS ON CHARGES OF CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT. BUT INVESTIGATORS SAY WHILE THEY WERE IN THERE ... MORRIS SET FIRE TO THE HOME. A NEIGHBOR - WHO WANTED US TO CONCEAL HER IDENTITY - SAYS SHE WATCHED THE WHOLE THING THROUGH HER WINDOW. clip 132 29:44 29:16 "I thought they had put a smoke bomb in because smoke was just coming up out of the roof. I said oh, my God what is that. then seemed like a flame came up after they came out. I said, oh, is the house on fire." 29:47 "the next thing I know I see someone coughing and they put a blanket, and put it around the person." MORRIS WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. NO WORD ON HIS CONDITION. BUT ONCE HE'S RELEASED... HE WILL BE TAKEN TO JAIL ON CHARGES OF ARSON AND FIVE COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED MURDER. A FAMILIAR FACE IN THE GREENVILLE POLICE FORCE HAS BEEN NAMED THE INTERIM POLICE CHIEF. WYFF NEWS FOUR'S ANGELA RODRIGUEZ IS LIVE AND LOCAL IN GREENVILLE WITH TODAY'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. THE CITY MANAGER MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON. MAJOR MIKE GAMBRELL IS THE NEW INTERIM CHIEF. GAMBRELL IS A LONGTIME VETERAN OF THE FORCE WITH 29 YEARS UNDER HIS BELT. HE WILL TAKE CHARGE ON TUESDAY APRIL 16TH. THE CITY SAYS A NATIONAL SEARCH IS ALREADY UNDERWAY. OFFICIALS HOPE TO NAME A NEW CHIEF BY THE END OF JULY. GAMBRELL SAYS HE'S BEEN DREAMING OF BECOMING CHIEF SINCE HE WAS A LITTLE BOY. 12:29 "Like I told the troops this morning, 30 yrs ago when I walked through those doors at role call room. I sat down just as you are sitting there. I know where my roots are. I don't forget where my roots are." AFTER 7 YEARS WITH THE DEPARTMENT, CHIEF TERRI WILFONG WILL RETIRE ON MONDAY. SHE SAYS THE DEPARTMENT IS I. GOOD HANDS WITH GAMBRELL. ANGELA RODRIGUEZ WYFF NEWS FOUR LIVE IN GREENVILLE. A TEENAGER.. CHARGED WITH MURDERING HIS OWN FATHER... WILL BE HEADING BACK TO TENNESSEE. ZACK BLANCHARD AND THREE OTHER TEENS CONSENTED TO EXTRADITION WHILE APPEARING BEFORE A FAMILY COURT JUDGE TODAY IN ABBEVILLE COUNTY. INVESTIGATORS SAY THE FOUR TEENS FLED GREENE COUNTY TENNESSEE WEDNESDAY AFTER ZACK BLANCHARD KILLED HIS FATHER. THE TEENS LED OFFICERS ON A TEN HOUR CHASE WHILE ON THEIR WAY TO MYRTLE BEACH. BUT THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT THAT FAR. SKY 4 WAS OVER THE SCENE THURSDAY IN NEWBERRY COUNTY... WHEN THE FOUR WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. NO WORD ON WHEN THE TEENS WILL BE EXTRADITED TO TENNESSEE. AN UPSTATE JEWELRY STORE OWNER WILL HAVE TO APPEAR BEFORE ANOTHER JUDGE... ON CHARGES HE STOLE VALUABLES FROM HIS CUSTOMERS. RONNIE STEWART WENT BEFORE A BOND COURT JUDGE YESTERDAY MORNING IN GREENVILLE. THE JUDGE SET HIS BOND AT 128-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR 60 OF THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM. BUT HE FACES MORE THAN 130 ACTIVE WARRANTS. WHICH MEANS HE'LL FACE ANOTHER JUDGE ... ON STILL MORE CHARGES. STEWART OWNED THE GOLDEN HEDGE IN GREENVILLE. DEPUTIES SAY HE SOLD SOME OF HIS CUSTOMERS JEWELRY TO AREA PAWN SHOPS.... AND KEPT SOME OF IT FOR HIMSELF. DEPUTIES HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR HIM SINCE FEBRUARY. INVESTIGATORS ARRESTED HIM AND HIS WIFE TRICIA LAST WEEK .. ON HILTON HEAD. FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WILL SPEAK AT THE PEACE CENTER TOMORROW NIGHT. TICKETS WENT ON SALE BACK IN MARCH FOR "AN EVENING WITH BILL CLINTON" THE SHOW IS SOLD OUT. THE EVENT WILL HELP CELEBRATE THE LIFELONG WORK OF GREENVILLE NATIVE RICHARD W. RILEY... AND FURMAN UNIVERSITY. ALL PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE RILEY INSTITUTE AT FURMAN. THE INSTITUTE IS CELEBRATING ITS 15TH ANNIVERSARY.

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